


The Night Before Christmas

by KnightVanguard



Category: Frankenstein & Related Fandoms, Frankenstein - Mary Shelley
Genre: Christmas, Christmas Eve, Domestic Fluff, Fluff, Kid Fic, M/M, SOM verse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-25
Updated: 2019-12-25
Packaged: 2021-02-25 21:47:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,766
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21952435
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KnightVanguard/pseuds/KnightVanguard
Summary: It's Henry and Victor's first Christmas both as husbands and with their new daughter.
Relationships: Henry Clerval/Victor Frankenstein
Comments: 5
Kudos: 24





	The Night Before Christmas

**Author's Note:**

> Hello all and Merry Christmas! This fic is part of a series of extended content to the novel length fic, Song of Myself, which is cowritten by me, WoolfsBane, and Timeandspace.
> 
> That being said, you don't have to read it first to understand what's going on. But, if you're intrigued by these characterizations and want to read more, feel free to check it out!
> 
> The only relevant information is that Jascha is the creature and Ernest in his partner.
> 
> As always, I love any feedback! Comments and kudos are always very appreciated! Thank you so much for reading!!

The baby was asleep, so Henry was trying to sleep too. Or rather, he would be trying to sleep if Victor wasn’t making so much of a racquet wrapping the presents. From the sound of it, he was losing the war with wrapping paper and tape rather viciously.

“No! Sock!” Victor yelped as something big hit the floor. If he wasn’t going to sleep, then Henry might as well go see what was going on.

As it turned out, the big thing that hit the floor was, in fact, Victor and he was being smothered by their poodle. “If you wake Adelaide, I will end you,” Henry said as he wrestled away the dog.

“It’s not my fault Sock figured out how to get into the closet,” Victor said before dropping his voice to a whisperer. “I locked it and everything. I swear I did.”

“It’s your fault for talking me into getting a dog that’s smarter than you are.” Henry sat cross legged on the ground and did his best to reign their puppy in.

“Hey, I am smarter than a five year old, at least.” Victor rolled his eyes and kept wrapping the presents poorly.

“That’s debatable.” Henry grinned as he began to organize the new baby clothes into neat little piles. If anyone had told him just how cute a tiny, dinosaur themed onesie could be, he might have just dropped dead on the spot.

“I have a degree. You can look it up,” Victor joked. He held up a snowglobe with some of the glass still exposed. “Do you think Dad will notice?”

“Most definitely, my dear.” Henry just smiled and patched it up, finishing it off with a label that read: From Victor, Henry, and Adelaide Frankenstein.

_Frankenstein_. All at once, it seemed strange and yet exactly how it was always meant to be. _Henry Frankenstein._ They had been married for a full six months even though it felt like eons, perfect and bright. The only thing better than the months they’ve spent as husbands was the weeks they’ve spent as fathers.

“You know Ada didn’t actually help with any of the Christmas shopping, right? She doesn’t even have object permeance.” He kissed Henry on the cheek.

“I know, but it’s a gift from our family.”

“Our family,” Victor repeated as he leaned against Henry’s shoulder. “Our family! We have a kid!” He laughed into the crook of Henry’s neck. “We, honest to god, have a child! _Us_!” He pulled away and wiped his eyes with the back of his sleeve.

“Victor, are you crying?” Henry pulled him against his chest and pressed a kiss to his dark hair.

“I just…” Victor laughed again. “I didn’t think it would ever really happen. But here we are--” The baby monitor beeped, letting them know that she was awake. “And there she is and we’re a family.”

“We are a family.” Henry smiled as he pressed a chaste kiss to Victor’s cheek. “Would you like to feed her while I finish the gift wrapping?”

“Yes please! I’ll also bring her in to say hi!” Victor shot up and all but bounded over to the nursery. From the other room, Henry could hear Ada crying and his husband babbling to her.

Victor was a good dad, not that Henry had any doubts in the past half a decade. When he fantasized about this point of his life, Henry assumed he would have been the parent to spoil the kids, but Victor took the cake. When he wasn’t working, sleeping, or eating, he was looking for new baby clothes or educational toys. He had recently become enamored with a multi-colored plush fish with crinkly scales. At the rate he was going a week ago, Henry was afraid they’d have nothing left to get her for Christmas.

“Alright,” Victor whispered as he walked through the door, baby in hand. “Let’s say hi to Papa. _Hi Papa!_ ” He his voice high to imitate Ada’s response. He sat next to Henry so both their faces were in her field of vision.

“Hi Adelaide!” Henry waved with a bright smiled. “How are you doing?”

“ _I just woke up from a nap and now Daddy is going to feed me_ ,” Victor joked. Henry wrapped one arm around his shoulder and let Ada grasp one of his fingers in her tiny hand. He pressed a kiss to his husband’s temple.

“Wait!” Henry said, scooting in front of her stack of presents. “She can’t be in here. It’s a surprise!”

“My dearest, darlingest, most beloved husband,” Victor said as he snuggled into his side. “She literally cannot see that far. Newborns can only see 8 to 12 inches in front of them. Your secrets are safe.”

Henry blushed as he stared into his daughter’s eyes. She stared back. And kept staring back. Then she blinked.

“Her attention span is getting longer!” Victor said with glee. “And according to parenting book four-hundred-fifty-three, she can recognize us as her caretakers.”

“I thought that one said we had to wait until she was four weeks old,” Henry joked.

“Well, all the other ones say it’s three weeks,” Victor laughed. Adelaide started to cry, and he jumped straight to comforting her. “And it looks like _someone’s_ mad that I haven’t fed her yet,” he soothed. “I’m going to our room,” he said with a kiss to Henry’s cheek.

“Sounds good. I’ll be by when everything’s ready.” Henry smiled. “Remember not to fall asleep with her.”

“I wouldn’t dream of it, darling,” Victor said as he left the room.

With Sock curled up and asleep at the foot of the guest bed, Henry was free to finish his job quickly. As much as he didn’t want to take the extra time, he fixed Victor’s shoddy work as well. After he carried armful after armful of gifts to their tree, he made sure everything was prepared for the rest of their family to visit tomorrow. Eight extra people in the house was nothing to sneeze at and it was the first time Ernest and Jascha would meet Ada.

After checking and double checking that everything was in order, then and only then was Henry able to return to his husband and daughter. Victor was sitting in their bed, shirtless, cuddling Ada close against his chest. She was happily feeding from her bottle as Victor made intense amounts of eye contact with her.

“What are you doing?” Henry asked as he curled into his husband’s side.

“I’m bonding,” Victor whispered with a smile. “Take your shirt off. Scientifically speaking, the more skin to skin contact time she gets, the better.” 

Henry was happy to comply. Victor gave him the baby and the bottle and he was able to feed his daughter. She was like a little ball of warmth radiating over his heart. Victor wrapped his arms around Henry’s middle and continued to stare at Adelaide. Henry began humming some song from The Nutcracker that had been stuck in his head for a couple days to pass the time. As far as he could tell, she liked it. It was kinda hard to tell when she liked anything because she was three weeks old and didn’t really have facial expressions. Victor liked it, in the very least, and he hummed along.

He stopped when the red numbers of the alarm clock flashed midnight. “Merry Christmas,” Henry whispered, both to Victor and Ada.

“Merry Christmas.” Victor pressed a kiss to Henry’s forehead and then to Ada’s. “Later today, we’ll get to celebrate and you’ll get to see both of your grandfathers and all your aunts and uncles and you’ll get to meet Uncle Ernest and Uncle Jascha for the very first time,” Victor explain excitedly. “And they’re going to love you because you’re perfect and wonderful.”

In time, Adelaide stopped eating and Henry and Victor burped her and changed her diaper before beginning the laborious task of getting her to go back asleep. Henry rocked her in his arms as he half-paced half-danced around the nursery.

Victor stayed at his side and did his best to help. When Ada was finally asleep, they watched her crib for just a few minutes. Victor leaned, exhausted, against Henry’s shoulder and bent down to lay two fingers over his sleeping daughter’s heart.

“She’s okay,” Henry whispered, not wanting to wake the baby. “She’s healthy and happy.”

“I know,” Victor said as they left the nursery and returned to their bed. They turned the lights off and snuggled under the covers, hoping to snag two or three hours of sleep before Ada needed to be fed again. “I’m just nervous.”

“About something specific or just in general?” Henry asked as he let his arm settle over the soft skin of Victor’s belly. He leaned into the touch and rested his head on Henry’s chest.

“What if Ernest and Jascha don’t think I’m cut out for this.” He gestured vaguely with his hand. “I mean...for all intents and purposes, I was a pretty shitty dad the last time. And I would totally understand if Jascha held it against me…” He trailed away and tightened his grip on Henry’s hand.

“That was different,” Henry reassured him as he trailed his fingers along his back. “You were young and dumb and didn’t think anything through.” He kissed the bridge of Victor’s nose. “We have been planning this for years. You are a wonderful father and they’ll think so too.” He pressed his nose into Victor’s hair. He smelled of cedar and pinewood; the same as always. “If they disagree, they can take it up with me and I’ll show them how wrong they are.”

“I love her.” Victor had his fingers pressed to Henry’s pulse. “I just love her so much and I want them to love her too and what if they’re afraid for her because they’re afraid of me.” 

“Love,” Henry whispered, holding his husband tight. “They haven’t been afraid of you for a long time.” Victor’s grip lightened. “You’ve heard them over the phone. They’re so happy for us and they will love her so much. They know who you are now and they trust you.” He kissed Victor and delighted in the warm thrum of his heart beat beneath his touch. “There is no one I would trust more to be the father of my child.”

“Thank you,” Victor said as he returned the kiss. “I love you with all my heart.”

“I love you too.” Henry closed his eyes and they finally settled into sleep however short lived it would be. 


End file.
